William hobbocks



(Mod-B1.) v

W. HORROGKS. l GABINBT 0R CASE FOR TYPB'WRITERS.

Patented Dec. 29, 1885.

P Hina-S866:

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

VILLIAM HORROOKS, OF ILION, NEW YORK.

CABINET OR CASE FOR TYPE-WRITERS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,225, dated December29, 1885.

Application filed June 8, 1885.

To @ZZ whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM HoRRooKs, of Ilion, in the county ofHerkimer and State of New York, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Cabinets or Cases for Type-Writers, of which thefollowing is a specilication.

This invention relates to cabinets or cases for typewriters; and theinvention consists in a novel arrangement of the shelfk which supportsthe typewriter and its operating deviceshwhereby the shelf with themachine upon it can be swung down within the body ofthe case and beautomatically covered by a hinged lid, the shelf' being so arranged thatas its rear edge is depressed its front edge shall be carried backwardout of the way of the knees of the operator, and when raised to theoperating posit-ion its front edge shallV be brought over the front railof the case to give it a rin support, all as hereinafter more fullV setforth. u

Figure l is a perspective View with the machine in position for use.Fig. 2 is a transverse vertical section showing the case closed.

Fig. 3 is a similar View showing the case open; and Fig. 4 is a 'similarView showing the case closed, and showing, also, two modifications ofthe plan of supporting and guiding the front edge of the shelf, twoother forms or modifications being shown inFigs. 2 and 3.

To carry out my invention I make what is known as a cabinet7 desk orcase, A, similar to the office-desks in general use in its generalappearance, with a space in the. center for the legs of the operator,and preferably with a set of drawers at each side, as shownl in Fig. 1,though for the cheaper style of cases these drawers may be omitted, thecase being :made correspondingly shorter, but in all other respects thesame.

The top of the case is inclined at each side of the central space, asshown at R R, Fig. l, like an ordinary desk; and a lid, D, is hinged atthe rear side of the central space, as shown in the several figures, sothat when shut down, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, it will close thecentral space on top. and thus make the top continuous from end to end,in which condition it resembles and serves the purposes of an ordinaryoffice-desk.

'llo support the type-writer C, I provide a swinging shelf, B, which isso hung that when Serial No. 168,027. (Model.)

the shelf B, about one-third of the width of the shelf from its frontedge, as shown at m in Figs. 2, 3, and 4, the rear ends of these bars orlinks being pivoted to the inner side walls 'of the case, as indicatedat d in Figs. 2 and 3,

the edges or sides of the shelf being of course cut away as far as theselinks extend, to permit the shelf to pass by them in swinging up anddown. It will readily be seen that as these links swing around theirpivot d as a center they will have the effect, when the shelf islowered, to draw it bodily backward to some ext-ent, and in order tothrow its front l edge still farther back, so as to get all the roompossible for the knees of 'the operator or person using the case whenclosed, I support its front edge by links g, as shown in Fig. 4, theybeing pivoted at h to the case and ati to the under side of the shelf,or by an equivalent device. As these links g swing on their pivot h asthe center of motion, it will be seen that their upper ends, swinging inthe arc of a circle of which h is the center, will Operate to carry thefront edge of the shelf B backward as its rear edge is swung downward,and that the backward movement of the front edge of the shelf B will bein proportion to the length of said links.

In Fig. 2 I have shown a modification, in

' it. The pin e will, preferably have mounted on it a small roller, u,as shown, to avoid or lessen the friction and make the movement more'easy and noiseless.

In Fig. 3 I have shown still another modication, in which a plate,having a curved slot, r, in it, is attached to the shelf B at itsopposite IOO sides, the pin e in this case being located so as v to beat the lower end of the slot when the shelf is raised, as shown 5 or, inlieu of these, a curved slot, n, may be formed in the side walls of thecase A, as shown in Fig. 4, and a pin or other projection be secured tothe shelf at its opposite sides to fit and move in these grooves as theshelf is raised and lowered. It will readily be seen that either ofthese plans may be used at will, the result with each being to throw thefront edge of the shelf backward as its rear edge is depressed', andthat it may be arranged to be thrown back more or less, as desired, theonly limit to its backward motion being the space that the machine Cwill occupy when the shelf is lowered, and which will depend also on thewidth of the case from front to rear, it being desirable, however, tomake it as narrow as possible, and get the necessary room for themachine and the operator, both on account of cost and the space it willoccupy in rooms.

This" method of arranging the shelf which supports the machine mayobviously be used with or without the hinged lid shown, and for which,if desired, any other style of cover may be used-as, for instance, adetachable cover-which can be set at one side and replaced when the caseis to be closed. In order, however,'to render the case more complete andconvenient in operation, I provide a lid, D, of t-he proper size to fillor close the space in the top of the case when the machine is depressed,this lid D being hinged as shown, so as to shut down on the front rail,I, and thus form an even top from end to end to be used as an ordinarydesk-top. I connect this lid D to the shelf B by means of links or rodsb, one end of which is pivoted to the lid D by brackets a, or in anysuitable manner, and

their opposite ends to the links c, as shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 4. rlheresult of this connection is that when the lid D is thrown up to theposition shown in Figs. l and 3, the shelf B is thereby raised, thusbringing the machine Cup into position for use, and by shutting down thelid D the shelf B, with the machine, is thrown down to the positionshown in'Fig. It will be observed that as the shelf B is raised thelinks c will force it outward, so that when entirely raised, its frontedge will rest on the front rail, I, of the case A, as shown in Figs. land 3, thereby giving a firm support at the front, and by making thelinks b of such a length as to permit the lid D to swing back past theperpendicular a little, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3, its weight will tendto hold the rear edge of the shelf B up against the cross-bar w, whichlthus serves as a stop. A counter balance or weight, o, is connected bya cord, l, to vthe rear side of shelf B, the cord passing over a pulley,o, at the rear of the case, the weight o being such as to counterbalancethe other moving parts, thus enabling the parts to be operated withease. The weight o is preferably arranged to slide in a` box or chute,which thus serves to guide it and cause it to move without noise, andpreventitfromswinging aboutloosely. Aspring;f clip, t, for holding copy,is applied to the lid D. A narrow shelf, p, is arranged within the caseat the point where the lower or rear edge of the shelf B will rest whendown, so as to completely inclose the machine when the casev is closed.If desired to render it dust tight, a strip of felt or similar materialmay be secured to the edges of shelf B all around, or` to the innerwalls of the case at the proper points, this soft flexible materialserving to exclude the dust, and yet not interfere with the movement ofthe parts. By this construction and arrangement of the parts, I amenabled to produce a very neat, compact, and eficient case, which servesthe twofold purpose of a case for the type-writer and an office- 5*desk.

I am aware that various forms of folding cases have been made forsewing-machines f and similar implements or machines, and therefore I donot claim, broadly, a hinged or folding case or cabinet; but I am notaware that any such case has heretofore been made or described in whichthe shelf that supports f the machine is arranged to move in the mannerdescribed, or in which there was the same combination and arrangement ofmoving shelf and lid and connectinglinks.

What I claim as my invention is f 1. In combination with the case orcabinet 1 A, the swinging shelf B, connected to rear z part of the caseby the pivoted links c, and having its front edge connected to the caseby ,the pivoted links g, or an equivalent device, whereby thefrontportion of the shelf' is caused to moved backward when its rear edge isderV pressed, and is brought forward over the rail I when raised to theproper position for operating the machine, substantially as aud for thepurpose set forth.

2. In combination with the case A, the shelf i B, connected to the rearpart of the case by pivoted links c, and its front edge supported S bythe pivoted'linksg, or equivalent devices, and the hinged lid D,connected to the shelf B by means of the links b and c, substantially ras shown and described.

3. The combinatiomwith case A, of the shelf i B, arranged to swingdownward and backward with the counter balance or weight o and the rlhinged lid D, said weight and lid both being r connected to said shelf,and all being arranged f to operate substantially as shown anddescribed.

WM. H. ELLIOT.

